Your task is to design two new stamps for the US post office



LIFE CYCLES (plants and animals)

Knowledge- 1 pt.

Your task is to design two new stamps for the US post office. One stamp will show the life cycle of plants and the other will show the life cycle of animals. You may pick any plant and any animal for your stamps. Label each step of the cycle so the stamps can be used as a teaching tool. Do it on blank paper and include color.

Comprehension- 2 pts.

Your task is to make a flip book. The flip book should show the life cycle of a plant or the life cycle of an animal (not both). Cut an index card into four equal pieces to make the pages of your book; use as many cards as you need. Draw only small changes from page to page or your book will not be effective.

Application- 3 pts.

Your task is to build a diorama of the life cycle of a plant or animal (pick one). Use construction paper to make your diorama. Make sure each part is labeled properly. Remember, cycles do not go in a straight line!!

Analysis- 4 pts.

Your task is to make a Venn diagram. You will differentiate (find similarities and differences) between the life cycles of plants and animals. Make sure each circle is labeled properly and is filled out neatly. Use blank paper.

Synthesis- 5 pts.

Your task is to write a tall tale. In your tall tale, you will hypothesize what would happen if death were not a part of the life cycle. This should be a fictional story. Remember—no death!

Evaluation- 6 pts.

Your task is to write an editorial (a news article that is your opinion). You will compare the life cycle with one of the other cycles we have studied (rock, water, nitrogen, carbon dioxide/oxygen). In your article, describe which one you think is more important and why you think so.

ADAPTATIONS—SURVIVAL

Knowledge- 1 pt.

Your task is to draw a diagram. Look at the lizard picture on the back of this card. Draw the picture on your own piece of paper. Find the characteristics that allow it to survive in its environment. Circle the characteristics of the animal and write them out to the side. Tell why you chose them.

Comprehension- 2 pts.

Your task is to make a map of the world. Draw it on plain paper (you can trace a map from your atlas). Group the plants and animals listed below into categories based on where they would best be able to survive. Write the names of the animals and plants next to the locations on the map where you would find those things.

Lion, bear, wolf, polar bear, snake, seal, elephant, cactus, prairie dog, parrot, gorilla, giraffe, lizard, toucan, killer whale, moose, frog, redwood tree, tropical plants

Application- 3 pts.

Your task is to make a Where’s Waldo type picture on an index card. You will need to have one animal that could survive in an arctic region on the card; the rest of the items should NOT belong in an arctic region. On the back of the card, describe the characteristics that allow the animal you chose to survive.

Analysis- 4 pts.

Your task is to design a bumper sticker. On the bumper sticker, you should list the characteristics of a bear in order of importance with the characteristic most necessary for survival listed first. Come up with a catchy saying for your sticker. Do it on computer paper. (ex: my bear is an honor student at MIS because he has…)

Synthesis- 5 pts.

Your task is to create a new animal. On a plain piece of paper, design a new animal with characteristics that would allow it to survive in an area with a lot of water and an average temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. On the bottom of the paper, explain why you chose those features and how they help your new animal to survive.

Evaluation- 6 pts.

Your task is to create cartoon strip. Your main characters must be an animal from a polar region, a tropical rainforest region, and an aquatic region. The characters must contrast their characteristics (point out things that are different). Remember, comic strips should be humorous.

[pic]

NICHE

Knowledge- 1 pt.

Your task is to create a billboard. Look up the definition of a niche. Find as many details as you can. Include all of your details on your billboard. Your billboard should be “catchy” so that people want to read it. Do the billboard on blank paper—use color.

Comprehension- 2 pts.

Your task is to write a riddle. Choose an animal that interests you and find as much information as you can about the animal (at the very least, know what it eats, what eats it, and the type of environment in which it lives). Your riddle should start with “I am an animal that…” and finish with “What animal am I?” In your riddle, you must include the information that you discovered. Fold a piece of construction paper in half. On the front, write the riddle. On the inside, write the name of the animal and draw a picture of it.

Application- 3 pts.

Your task is to create a menu. You need to search for food sources for predators that live in the desert. Then, you must write a menu that would appeal to the desert predators. Make sure it is appetizing!

Analysis- 4 pts.

Your task is to write a paragraph. In your paragraph, you should compare the niche of an owl with the niche of a mouse. Are there any similarities? Are there any differences?

Synthesis- 5 pts.

Your task is to write a tall tale. Your tale will need to describe what would happen if insects disappeared from the following food chain. What would life be like for the other animals? How would it change what the other animals eat and do?

[pic]

Evaluation- 6 pts.

Your task is to write an interview. You must make up questions that you would want to ask to two different animals in the taiga. One of the questions must be “How do you avoid competing for food sources?” You should have at least 5 questions. Then, you must pretend you are the two different animals in the taiga and you must answer the questions. Here is an example for the format:

Question 1

Animal 1 answer

Animal 2 answer

Question 2…

INHERITED TRAITS AND LEARNED CHARACTERISTICS

Knowledge- 1 pt.

Your task is to make a grocery list. You want to go shopping at two different stores, the inheritance store and the learned store. You have a long list of things to purchase and you want to make a separate list for each store. Divide the characteristics listed below into two lists, one for inherited traits and one for learned characteristics.

Eye color, athletic, reading ability, singing well, hair color, height, attached earlobes, musical ability, tongue rolling ability, good handwriting, cooking skills

Comprehension- 2 pts.

Your task is to write a vocabulary list. There will be two words on your list: inherited traits and learned characteristics. In your OWN WORDS, describe these two terms. Include as many details as you can.

Application- 3 pts.

Your task is to write a couplet (poem with every two lines rhyming with each other). In your poem, you should reason why weight is not an inherited trait. Make sure you explain what kind of environmental influences can impact a person’s weight. Your poem can be serious or humorous.

Analysis- 4 pts.

Your task is to write a letter to a person on your home planet (you are an alien). You are on Earth to study different characteristics and behaviors. In your letter, you should describe which characteristics and behaviors that you observe on Earth are inherited from earthling parents and which ones are learned from the environment so that the people on your planted have a better understanding of the weird people on Earth.

* I got the idea for this one from the internet.

Synthesis- 5 pts.

Your task is to make a promotional brochure. You brochure should advertise a new creature that your company has just developed. The cool thing about your new creature is that your scientists have programmed it so that it can be taught things. In your brochure, describe traits that it already has and the things that the new owners will be able to teach it (characteristics that it can learn). Be creative!!

Evaluation- 6 pts.

Your task is to write a letter to the editor. The editor of the Science World just posed this question to the readers: “Do you think the way someone turns out is based more on the traits a person has at birth or more on the things a person learns during his/her lifetime?” You must decide which is more important and justify your choice in your letter.

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